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Old 02-07-2018, 08:39 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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First off do not quench in vinegar - it will only vaporize around the hot metal creating an gaseous layer that will not adequately cool the steel at a fast enough rate to get any kind of consistent hardening. Safest bet for most mystery steels is warmed canola oil - around 120-130 deg F. It is a little faster than other veg. oils. but not too fast. Once cooled and tempered in an oven wash well with soap/water before vinegar soak.

After an over-night in warmed vinegar (spot lamp will keep it warm just fine), take it to a wire wheel. This will take off most if not all of softened scale even in the pitted areas. Now you should be able to get a better idea of which direction you want to go with your final finishing. Depending on how well you ground out your bevels, you may be able to hand-sand from here to get your desired pre-sharpened finish.

A resoak in the vinegar will give you a nice dull gray patina that you can rub smooth with wetted 2000 grit wet/dry paper and very light finger pressure. Ferric will give you a much darker patina, but is much more aggressive - any scratches or pits will be enlarged and deeper, so just be aware of that. It will need to be "killed" with a baking soda/water solution or windex, then you can rub out same way with 2000 grit. Just remember any flaws will be accentuated using vinegar or Ferric so get what you don't want to see gone before you start any etching.


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